Jazz vocalist Milton Suggs honors the spirit of New Orleans and Mardi Gras in upcoming concert at the Rialto

Milton Suggs is performing alongside vocalist Quiana Lynell and pianist Luther S. Allison in the "New Orleans Songbook." (Courtesy of Jacob Blickenstaff)

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The joyous sound of Carnaval receives an elegant tribute from an Atlanta-raised virtuoso vocalist on March 8 at the Rialto Center for the Arts. Milton Suggs performs in “New Orleans Songbook: A Jazz at Lincoln Center Production” alongside fellow vocalist Quiana Lynell and pianist Luther S. Allison in a musical revue honoring the soul of New Orleans and the spirit of Mardi Gras, with classics by Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Ellis Marsalis and more.

Milton Suggs joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes to talk about his lifetime of singing and his love for the jazz of the Big Easy.

“You can expect traditional New Orleans songs that you just might hear at a Mardi Gras parade,” said Suggs. “From the rhythms of Congo Square to the culture of the resistance, all of that soul is within the sound and it’s in the DNA of this music.”

More information about the “New Orleans Songbook” concert on March 8 is available here.